The number of vehicles registered in the Rock River Valley was up 1.1 percent in April compared with April 2007, powered by a surprising surge in new car and truck sales.

It marked the first time since December 2006 that vehicle registrations were up year-over-year.

Although the number of vehicles registered declined in May from May 2007, the April increase in registrations, a solid if imperfect tracker of automobile sales, was a sign that the area’s auto dealers may be seeing some light at the end of this economic cycle.

“We had a very good April. I’ve even had pretty good success selling trucks,” said Scott Bryden, owner of Bryden Ford in Durand, which sells new Ford vehicles as well as a full array of used vehicles. “There are a lot of businesses that still need trucks, no matter what the gas price is. What I have noticed is the people who owned smaller trucks as status vehicles, they’re the ones coming in looking at the Ford Focus or other smaller cars.”

In April, owners registered 1,486 new cars, trucks, minivans and SUVs in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties, the highest total of the year and nearly 19 percent higher than April 2007. Increased incentives probably helped a bit — according to Edmunds.com, the average automaker incentive in the U.S. in April was $2,449, up 1.6 percent from April 2007.

The increase in new vehicle sales made up for a 2.6 percent decline of registrations of newly purchased used vehicles. About 80 percent of the car and truck sales in the Rock River Valley are used vehicle sales.

In May, new and used sales slipped more than 5 percent from May 2007 and Jack Strandquist, owner of Strandquist Motor Co., which sells new Chrysler vehicles and used cars of all kinds, sounded a cautionary note about June and July sales.

“We had very good months in April and May, but June was a tough month and July has been as well,” Strandquist said. “There really hasn’t been any major change in the economy in that time. But car buying is an emotional thing and (consumers) seem to be holding back because of all of the negative economic news.”

Automotive sales have a much wider economic effect than just the car lot owners and individual sales personnel. Automotive sales are one of the major producers of retail sales-tax revenues for area municipalities and the continuing decline could make it increasingly harder for counties, cities and villages to pay for basic services.

Assistant Business Editor Alex Gary may be reached at agary@rrstar.com or at 815-987-1339.

What it means
Car sales registrations are a good, if imperfect, barometer of auto sales.

They measure the number of cars and trucks registered in a county after a purchase, not where they were bought. So if someone bought a Dodge Caliber from Brian Bemis Auto Mall in Oregon and registered it in Boone County, it would show up as a Boone County registration.

Most people buy in their home county, industry experts say.